Back to School

Lexi started first grade today. I know I can't believe it either. She was pretty excited about it. I say give her another year (two at tops) and the excitement will turn into dread! Our summer definitely flew by. Fortunately we only have to go to school for 3 days before we get to go on our summer vacation! And the answer is no, the school is not happy about it nor do they advocate summer vacation the first week of school. However, family weddings trump first grade. Anway here are some pictures of Lexi's first day back to school. Notice the curls? Special request.

Here is Lexi's desk. you'll notice Kendri in the background hanging out. She is a little lost without Lexi but I must say the fighting was nonexistent today! Very nice.

And here is the tradional "love note" I put in Lexi's lunch. (Don't judge me.....I've never had good handwriting. And p.s. writing on a napkin makes it even trickier. ) We started our little tradition last year. Lexi is sure to mention it anytime I skip putting one in. Wonder when she'll tell me it's too embarrassing......

Born in the USA

I just wanted to set the record straight. (Mainly for my husband. Hee hee!) You may have read my 4th Recap post. You know, where I mention the unfair accusations of my political alignment. And might I add, false. So here is the proof, baby. Patriotic from day one!

This picture is of me and Amber gearing up for the parade during Lamar Days. (Notice I said Lamar Days. Not Fourth of July or Memorial Day. No red, white, and blue required. Yet there it is!)

We rode in the parade with the other decorated bikes and were positive we would place in the top 3 in the judging contest. (I mean look at us. Wouldn't you vote for me? I would.) Unfortunately, we didn't understand that parades go slow so everyone can see you. We got very impatient because everyone was going so sloooooow. We took it upon ourselves to ride as fast as we could. We gloried in the fact that we were passing decorated horses, fancy cars, and the twirling girls. And when we reached the end we were confused as to how we didn't get judged with the other bikes! Ahhhh, well. So there you have it. No blue ribbons but we still had fun!

Invaders

The first summer we moved into our house, we had a major ant problem. Any crumb dropped would promptly be attacked. I was constantly spraying my kitchen in hopes of getting rid of my unwelcome tenants. It seemed like every time we woke up there would be an army marching through my kitchen or a line forming on my patio. Grrrrr....

We went to Colorado for a week at the end of July. While we were gone they really made themselves comfortable. By the time we got home there was an actual anthill sitting in the middle my linoleum. Really. An anthill. Sand and everything. I was not about to let that happen. I declared war. I had Ryan deal with it immediately while I got out my death spray.

I like to think that was the turning point in our little battles. I broke their spirits and they just couldn't bounce back. I had a few small problems here and there but I was convinced that I had showed them who was boss. Over the last few years our ant problem has become less and less. In fact I haven't even really noticed them this year. Until a few days ago that is. Here is a picture of the side of my house. (Yes, I know. It's crooked. I was barefoot and not in the mood to walk through them for a decent shot. But you get the idea. Those little black dots? Ants.) Need a close-up?

Covering the entire concrete. They've come back. Seeking revenge, perhaps? Feeling the need for a little retribution? Using the last few years to organize their armies to prepare for the ultimate invasion? Ha! They didn't last more than a few minutes. Good-bye my nemesis of 5 years ago.....and p.s., don't mess with me.

4th Recap

We were totally prepared for the Fourth of July. Not a finger went unnoticed. These are Lexi's nails. She actually painted them herself. She did the left hand and then requested that I do the EXACT same thing on her right hand. And let me tell you she did not go easy on me. When she says exact, she means exact! There were also patriotic toenails to go with the ensemble but unfortunately we didn't get a snapshot. I painted Kendri's for her and those girls were ready for the 3 day weekend of parties!

We started the weekend off at a ward breakfast/swim party. Then on Sunday we went down to Tracy for the newest Reese baby. Our little nephew, Jackson, was blessed on the 4th of July. We spent the night in Tracy and then woke up for another family affair. Rachel was baptized on Monday. It was big weekend for the Reese family! We wore our red, white, and blue for 3 days straight! Talk about Reese heaven. We love the 4th. It ranks up there near Christmas for us. (P.S. I use "us" loosely because I have been accused of having no patriotism whatsoever by my husband. I'm working on it. See the fingernails?) So back to the 3 day weekend....It was a good thing because Gammi got all the little girls big patriotic bows to wear in their hair. They were really cute. But.....I forgot my camera so I have no actual proof that we there. Or that we were so patriotic. Just the fingernails. Oh well. I'll remember next year!

Summer Lovin'

So we're officially half-way through our summer vacation. That's right. We start school at the end of July (sniff.) But....since we're not there yet I thought I'd share some of our summer fun so far! Lexi and Kendri are in an art class in Moke Hill. Here are just a few of the things they've got to do.....Kendri painting the mural. The finished project will hang in their library.

Lexi really liked this project. She spent quite a bit of time working on her portion. When she finished one part they'd give her another area to work on. Most of the kids got tired but she just kept painting.

This was one of their first projects. It was a wind sock.

They hung them in our backyard when we got home. And they're still there. Actually only half of Lexi's has survived. We got some rain a few days after they hung them out there. Rain and crepe paper don't really mix well :)

They have also made clay sculptures, learned how to make paper, participated in a puppet show, and done water color paintings.

And this is what Kyson and I do while the girls are creating masterpieces......we wander around talking to stray dogs. All right, they're not really strays. Mokelumne Hill is a country town that still lets their dogs run free. Apparently this particular canine is considered the "communtiy dog". He shows up to most community functions.

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Anyway, Kyson loves dogs. Loves. Them. All. He calls them "woof-woofs". There seems to be a pleuthra of them around so he's really gotten quite brave. (You know, considering we don't own a pet unless you count Sharky, our beta fish. Which I do. He is our pet and he gets me out of owning anything that requires more responsibility than tossing in a few flakes every now and then. Thank you Sharky, for living so easily.)

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So yes. I follow Kyson around to visit the dogs that are nearby. Or I chase Kyson as he makes a beeline for Main Street. Or I grab him just as he's destroying some child's art project. Or we wander around calling for the woof-woofs who are hiding. One of us loves it. And one of us needs a nap after art class.

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We've also been swimming. I've been trying to get the kids to the pool more this year so that they can learn to swim better. I've been dreading taking 3 small children to the pool because none of them can swim. That's a lot of stress trying to keep them all above water! Luckily one of the families in our ward has a pool and has let us come over everyday this week. It's a smaller pool and their teenage daughter swims with us so I have some help. The good news is Lexi has improved by leaps and bounds just going these last few days. I finally can say she's swimming! Whooohooo! She's very proud of herself to say the least. It was a fear she really had to overcome. And then there's been the library activities, play dates, church functions.....Whew....I'm tired just thinking about all we've been doing! So to say the least, we're getting everything we can out of this summer vacation!

Window Pains

I washed my windows last week. Can't you tell?

They were perfect. In fact, my pride and joy.....if only for a mere 3 days. (Do you feel my pain yet?) I'm not sure what it is about a sparkling window. Perhaps the illusion that air is the only thing separating indoors from outdoors. And then a Must-Touch-Just-To-Verify-Reality ensues. Poke, poke. Maybe the exhilartion of creating your own mural using only handprints. My personal opinion on the matter is neither.

I think the thrill of destruction is intoxicating.

Give them a taste and they're hooked. Ask my children, I'm sure they'd agree. I mean, why else would they insist on dirtying everything I clean? Even my smallest guy is affected. Give him access to a toy box and what does he do? I can tell you what he doesn't do. He doesn't paw through the toys and choose the one he wants to play with. Nope. He dumps it. The whole thing.

Every time.

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Cherry Pickin'

This past Monday we were able to have a fun Family Home Evening. There's a family in our ward that has cherry trees. They told us we could come out and pick to our hearts content. So we did just that! We picked 2 1/2 buckets full. And can you believe we didn't even make a dent in their cherry supply. So I've been busy pitting cherries and freezing them. I thought about canning but then decided that was a little ambitious for me. Pitting cherries is enough.

The kids had a great time. They threw bread to the chickens. Lexi got pecked by a hen. Kendri was chased by about 5 chickens. Apparently chickens are not patient. She couldn't tear the bread apart fast enough. So she resorted to some weird "run and toss" method. She was chucking bread pieces over her shoulder with super-human speed. With a slightly panicked look, I might add.

The girls also got to search the hen house for eggs. They managed to find a dozen fresh eggs that came home with us. They were amazed at how you could lift up a hen and find 3 or 4 eggs sitting there. Just like Easter. I must admit that I thought it was fun too! While we were busy hunting eggs, Kyson was busy finding all the cherries that dropped to the ground. He was desperately trying to shove them in his mouth before I could catch him. He LOVES cherries. (I usually just bite off half and give him the half without the pit.) After all the cherry picking we went and collected some blueberries. Yes, blueberries. Did you think it couldn't get any better? We already ate most of them. Ryan did put some in the freezer for safe keeping but I think we should've just eaten them fresh. They wouldn't have lasted long, that's for sure ;) We came home happy, tired, and STICKY!